Midnight Roundup! New UFC Saudi Arabia date, Kayla Harrison's "risks," 'Road House' remake falls flat, and more

The postponed UFC event in Saudi Arabia got a new date as the promotion dropped one of the biggest shockers in recent memory.

Here are your top midnight MMA news updates, presented by Sportskeeda.

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UFC Saudi Arabia has a new date

After days of speculation and an array of rumors, UFC Saudi Arabia finally has a date - June 22, 2024.

The event was originally targeted for March 2, but Dana White recently confirmed that the Fight Night card has been pushed back. However, he denied the report by Ariel Helwani that it had anything to do with Saudi Arabia authorities being unhappy with the matchups.

Turki Alalshikh revealed the new date in the press release below:

With International Fight Week and Conor McGregor's proposed return also being planned in June, the month is shaping up to be huge for the promotion.

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Megan Anderson discusses Kayla Harrison's risks

Dana White's bombshell announcement about Kayla Harrison making her promotional debut against Holly Holm at UFC 300 left fans and MMA pros wondering the same thing - can the judoka make 135 pounds? Harrison fought at featherweight over at PFL, but the division is practically defunct in the UFC.

Holm's former opponent and ex-title challenger Megan Anderson expressed her concern regarding the matter:

"If she's [Kayla Harrison] cutting a significant amount of weight, that increases the risk of not being able to rehydrate correctly which then increases the risks of knockouts - of getting rocked with punches... Holly Holm, out of every single one of my opponents in my entire career, is physically the strongest opponent I have ever faced. She's a f***ing specimen."

Watch Megan Anderson's brief breakdown below:

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Conor McGregor-starred 'Road House' fails to get fans excited

Amazon Prime Video recently announced the release date of the remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze-starrer classic Road House, featuring Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor McGregor.

The UFC shared the poster of the movie, set to release on March 21, but it failed to generate any excitement among the fans.

Most fans wanted to get an update on the UFC 300 main event instead, while some mocked McGregor for getting into Hollywood.

Read the reactions here.

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Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev seen together

Dagestan's Islam Makhachev and Chechnya's Khamzat Chimaev were spotted having lunch together recently in Dubai.

While it is not uncommon for fighters of Muslim faith, especially those from Russia, to often hang out with each other, fans noticed an awkwardness between the two UFC fighters and theorized they were forced to dine together.

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Conor McGregor's new anti-doping status

After a split with USADA, the UFC joined hands with Drug Free Sports International (DFSI) to implement the anti-doping program and continue testing fighters for drug use. Along with collaboration with DFSI which has a history of working with NBA, NFL, MLB, and NCAA, UFC also put former FBI agent George Piro in charge of spearheading the program.

Jed I. Goodman recently reported that the new database updated for 2024 shows two test sessions for Conor McGregor, who spent the last year at loggerheads with the USADA regarding sample testing.

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Tommy Fury undergoes surgery for long-running injury - "I trained solely with my left hand"

Tommy Fury revealed on Wednesday that he had been suffering from an injury in his right hand since his third professional fight in 2019 that he never spoke about publicly. He claimed that he trained for the fight against KSI with only his left hand.

"Since 2019 I have been dealing with a hand injury that I’ve never spoken about/shared online... For the last four weeks of my last camp I trained solely with my left hand until fight night. This morning I underwent the surgery I’ve been putting off for years..."

Read his full statement below:

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Midnight Face-Off!

Watch former UFC title challengers Thiago Santos and Yoel Romero face off ahead of the PFL vs. Bellator card: